As the last of the acts pack their vans and we remove the last illogically packed box of equipment from the Old Hall cellar, it’s time to say goodbye to Underground 2011 and goodbye to Buxton for another year.

It’s been a big year for both Underground Venues and the Buxton Fringe. Underground celebrated our 6th year with a graduation to the world above ground. Our two Arts Centre spaces had a fantastic first year with a new scale of comedy and drama filling both the 93 and 200 seat auditoriums. This new venture was perfectly complemented by our original atmospheric home under the Old Hall Hotel which, along with its all-day bar, has now firmly established itself as the heart of the Fringe.

Preliminary number-crunching shows sales are massively up on last year – proving clearly both the Buxton Fringe and Underground are attracting more audience each year and have the potential to go further.

Buxton’s place in the Fringe circuit – Brighton in May, Buxton in July, Edinburgh in August – has now been embraced by both acts and press. This year we’ve seen further growth in the number of the country’s finest acts touring to Underground Venues after Brighton or previewing with us before Edinburgh. Respected Edinburgh critics Fringe Guru and Fringe Review have also added Buxton to their dedicated coverage, and we’re pleased to see almost all their visits were to Underground. And they seem to have had a good time – read their coverage here and here.

Underground acts also excelled at the Buxton Fringe awards ceremony – held yesterday. In a year of particularly high quality, we were pleased to see Best Comedy Show, Best Comedy Performer, Best Theatre Production, Best New Writing, Best Young Theatre Production, Best Young Actor, Best Dance and Best Family Show going to Underground (almost a clean sweep of comedy and drama!). See here for the full list.

And good news for the artistic end of our operation – Three’s Company – who received several rave reviews (and an award) for their two premieres this Fringe – Not The Messiah and The Importance Of Being Frank.

So it’s time to start planning and scheming for next year, with hopes to expand our operation once more. During the year we’ll be in Buxton but can be found at @underthefringe or facebook.com/underthefringe